A Cloudy Paradise
by ilovetvalot
Summary: By request, a happy TWOshot for JJ/Hotch. I hope you enjoy! Co-auth'd w/ tonnie2001969
1. Chapter 1

"_**Love comes to those who still hope even though they've been disappointed, to those who still believe even though they've been betrayed, to those who still love even though they've been hurt before." Author Unknown**_

**A Cloudy Paradise**

**Chapter One**

He loved that look in her eyes. It didn't happen often. Rarely, did she ever allow her guard down. But there were times, particularly after a difficult case, where the mask would slip, if only for a split second. And she would look almost...wistful. Her eyes would soften to almost the color of the clear blue sea, and she'd stare distantly into space. Almost as if she were escaping the horrors they saw on an almost daily basis.

He envied her the ability to let go and lose herself for a few stolen moments, his own drive and focus often a detriment in the rare moments of downtime they had. He'd never learned the ability to shut down and turn off, his own mind constantly churning with thoughts of his own failures and shortcomings, all the things he could have done better...faster.

He flushed as he realized that he'd held his stare too long. That he'd been caught by her intelligent deep blue eyes. Damn it! He was usually quicker than this. He knew there were more embarrassing things than being caught longingly looking at an incredibly beautiful woman. Though, at the moment he was hard pressed to think of one.

Trying to think of something to say, he realized that in all his forty-three years, he never became as tongue-tied as he did when exposed to Jennifer Jareau. Oh, he could do professional all day long. He'd perfected the stoic boss routine admirably. But the other side of the man he was...that was a different story altogether.

Because with this woman, he could very easily slip and allow himself to become human. She invited it with her warmth and compassion. With her soft smile and kind eyes. Her lilting voice and wisdom beyond her years. Yes, he could very easily allow himself to fall under her spell. Hell, he was fairly certain he already had, even if he wasn't quite ready to admit it to himself yet.

"You okay, Hotch?" she asked softly, mindful of their sleeping teammates around them, the hum of the airplane engines lulling in the background.

Flashing her a tight smile, he deliberated his response to her hushed question. She must have seen the flash of indecision in his eyes, he thought miserably, because suddenly she was unsnapping her seat belt and slipping into the seat beside him at the back of the plane.

"Hotch?" he heard her gently prod, resting a light hand against his arm.

God, she really had no idea what those soft inadvertent caresses did to his libido, the warmth of her soft skin seeping through his jacket. How the waves of yearning crashed over his body, reminding him of exactly how long he'd been without a woman. "I'm fine, JJ. I was just admiring your ability to tune things out," he said softly, willing his suddenly tense body to relax and ordering his groin to cooperate with his mind's order. He was nothing if not disciplined.

"I have to," she said with a soft smile as she shifted slightly in her seat to see him better, her shoulder leaning deeply into the forgiving leather. "When we see as many ugly images as we do, sometimes I just have to allow myself to drift away."

'Don't look at her...don't look into her eyes, Aaron,' he silently told himself. He was entirely too aware how easily he'd lose himself in their endless depths, a siren's call to a drowning sailor. "Where do you go?" he asked softly, trying to ignore the fact that her hand hadn't moved from his forearm, her palm print burned into his skin.

"Most times, anywhere but here," she confided with a sad smile, the corners of her rose-tinted lips barely tilting. "It just seems sometimes that no matter how hard we work to eliminate the evil, a new breed rises to take its place. And I have to try and convince myself that it matters...what we do...that we are making a difference."

"You make a difference, JJ," Hotch said deeply without conscious thought, the words flowing out his heart by way of his mouth. "To all of us. You see the worst of it, every day, in all those files you pore over. And every day, you come back and do it again and again. "

"I just recognize the bad guys on paper...you guys are the ones that get inside their heads and beat them at their own game," she shrugged modestly, her fingertips silently rubbing against the soft fabric of his suit jacket.

"You're undervaluing your contribution to this team," Hotch stated softly, glancing at her serene profile as her eyes drifted toward the cabin window. "I've never liked it when you do that," he reminded her with a firm voice, the undercurrent of a smile trying to make an appearance.

"I'm aware I'm an important cog in the BAU wheel," JJ smirked, not turning her head, trying to lose herself in the passing clouds, his nearness of his strong presence threatening to overwhelm her. "Your last lecture still rings in my ears."

"Glad to know I made an impression," Hotch said with a rare grin, unexpected wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes. "But it seems you might need a refresher course."

Watching as she sank her teeth into her full lower lip, Hotch fought the urge to reach up and sooth the delicate, offended skin. He knew that look she wore now, all nuances of this woman familiar to him. She wanted to say something and she was debating the wisdom of actually putting her thoughts into words.

"What?" he asked softly, watching her eyelashes blink at that simple word. "What is it you want to ask, JJ?" Hotch asked huskily.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Cloudy Paradise**

**Chapter Two**

"N-nothing," JJ whispered, shaking her head quickly as she drew in a deep breath, her courage suddenly thin and fleeting.

Seeing the slight flush reddening her cheeks, Hotch's brows furrowed in consternation. Covering the hand that still rested against his arm with a warm palm, he whispered, "I know I'm not the world's greatest conversationalist, but I'm not half-bad in the listening arena. You can talk to me, JJ. About anything."

Lifting shocked eyes to collide with his, JJ swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as Aaron Hotchner afforded her a golden opportunity to be honest about feelings six years in the making. For what seemed to be countless ages, she'd held her tongue for one reason or another. First, she'd remained silent because he'd been happily married, the evidence seen in Haley's visits to the unit and the joy over his son's birth. Then, by the time of his divorce, she'd met Will and forced herself to leave behind what she had tried to convince herself was an adolescent crush on a superior. It hadn't worked. Her avoidance tactics had only prolonged the inevitable realization that her feelings for Aaron were all too real and consistent to be imagined.

She was in love with him. And had been for years.

"I...I'm not sure how to..." she stammered, her hand tightening around his arm as the plane made a small dip in the sky, her leather soles shifting against the carpeted floor.

"How to what?" Aaron asked softly, her uncertainty and hesitance worrying him. JJ was a lot of things, but nervous and anxious had never been defining characteristics. Tightening his hand around hers, he wordlessly willed her to confide in him. To trust in him. It was if he was caught in a timeless loop, unable to move forward until he knew that she was once again the confident Jennifer Jareau he had always known.

"Do you ever wonder...if you've made the right decisions? The right choices?" JJ asked faintly as the sun waned through the window, early evening wrapping around the airborne plane, dimming the cabin.

"I think everyone questions themselves at some point," Hotch replied evenly unsure where her question was leading, his voice low in the rapidly darkening cabin. "It's human nature to wonder about what might have been. No one lives without regret, JJ. All we can hope for at the end of the day is to learn something from the mistakes we made."

Smiling sadly at his steady words, she whispered, "I've made some bad decisions in my life. Missed opportunities I should have taken."

"You aren't the only one," Hotch admitted, thankful that shadows were beginning to shroud them, guarding the intimacy of the moment. "And chances are, we'll make those mistakes again. Again, human nature," he said ruefully.

"You've been spending too much time with Spence," JJ admonished gently, squeezing his fingers to lessen the sting of her rebuke, the feel of his strong muscles comforting and alluring at the same time.

"Perhaps...but you've got to admit, he's an excellent student of human nature," Hotch said with a low chuckle, barely loud enough for her ears alone.

"You make a valid point," JJ grinned, settling deeper into her seat as her arm brushed against his. Inhaling deeply as she gathered her courage, JJ cast a quick look around at their still sleeping traveling companions. Seeing them all still blessedly oblivious, she looked up into Hotch's dark questioning eyes. "I don't want to miss any more opportunities if I can avoid it," she blurted, leaning forward to press her supple lips to his, gently kissing his pliant, yet unresponsive lips.

Meeting his surprised gaze as she pulled away quickly, she whispered frantically, "I'm sorry, Hotch. I should never have..." She began trying to pull her hand from underneath his where it still rested against his arm, her heart sinking as her mind reeled at her obvious unappreciated action.

"JJ, don't," Hotch murmured, tightening his grip around her hand when she would have pulled away. Lifting a warm palm to cradle her cheek, he guided her lips back to his, gently sipping her lips as she held herself rigid. Teasing her lips with the tip of his tongue, he felt her sigh against him, her mouth parting, affording him entrance into the warm cavern of her mouth. Kissing her softly, a slow, tender tangling of tongues that didn't last nearly as long as he'd like, he deliberately pulled away, nipping her lower lip as he did.

Releasing a shaky breath as he stared into her face, obscured by the shadows around them, he whispered, "As much as I wish we could have had this discussion in private, I'm glad you feel the way you do."

"Y-you are?" JJ asked shakily, her breath trapped in her throat, almost unable to believe that he hadn't pushed her away or chastised her for mixing her personal feelings with her professional life.

Nodding, Hotch offered her a small smile. "I might think you're slightly insane for wanting to take a chance on a man that's failed more than he's succeeded lately in the personal realm of my life, but I'm grateful for it," he confessed, his own heartbeat pounding louder than he could remember in years.

"The risk would have been to continue not telling you," JJ choked, blinking back joyful tears as she realized how fortunate they both were. Perhaps those fates she had railed at in the past were choosing to favor her for once.

"Good think you have more courage than I do then," Hotch admitted, stroking a finger against her cheek, relishing the feel of her soft skin beneath his touch. "Do you have plans tonight? I'd really like to continue this conversation in a more appropriate atmosphere, preferably over candlelight and a bottle of wine. I'm pretty sure that's still the way it's done anyway."

"I don't know how it's supposed to be done, but I definitely like your idea. I'd love that," JJ whispered as they felt the plane begin a slow descent.

Hearing a noise behind them, Hotch slowly drew away from her, reluctant to break what had become a life-giving contact. "Until tonight," he murmured, with one last squeeze to her fingers, gently placing her hand safely in her lap. Settling back against the leather seat as the seatbelt sign flashed on overhead, Hotch released a contented breath, the thoughts of the coming hours filling him with anticipation and just a little hope.

With JJ glowing happily beside him, Aaron Hotchner decided he just might not be as hopeless as he initially thought.

_**FINIS**_


End file.
